By JESSICA SIEFF
Niles Daily Star

The struggles being felt by manufacturers in southwest Michigan were made clear during an open discussion between business owners and legislators at Delta Machining in Niles on Monday.

Several area business owners, including Michael Dreher of Modineer; Larry Barrett of Berrien Metal Products; the Four Flags Area Chamber of Commerce, industry of the year for 2008; and Keith Stelter of Delta Industrial Valves talked openly about their industry and the challenges facing it with state Rep. John Proos, R-St. Joseph; state Sen. Ron Jelinek, R-Three Oaks; and U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich.

“We are competing against the rest of the country and the rest of the world in terms of the products we are trying to make here,” Upton said. “We want our families to be here and when you look at what’s happened in America, we’ve lost one in five manufacturing jobs in the last three years, almost half of them have been in one state – ours.”

Economic hard times have no doubt had their impact on the business of manufacturing – but so has outsourcing jobs to countries like Mexico and China.

Many business owners commented on what seems to be to them a lack of support from state and in some cases federal government.

“In spite of the Michigan government, we’ve grown about 30 to 40 percent a year,” Stelter said. “We’re expanding like crazy.”

But that expansion, he said, is no thanks to the state.

“The Michigan government, they say ‘what do you need?’ You say you need a chainsaw and they buy you a surfboard,” Stelter said. “We count on no help (from Michigan). In fact, we look at the Michigan government as a hindrance.”

“I think when you talk about manufacturing,” Proos said, “the critical component of that is how we stack up to other states and it’s clear to me that our business tax structure does not stack up. It is too expensive for you to operate, it is too burdensome when it comes to regulations … those concerns need to be taken very seriously. We compete every day to succeed against Indiana, Ohio and Illinois to say nothing of Texas and Nevada and South Carolina.”

Also in attendance during Monday’s lunch, which included a tour of Delta Machining, were Shelley Klug, executive director of the Southwest Michigan Economic Growth Alliance, and Barbara Craig, executive dean at Lake Michigan College’s Bertrand Crossings Campus.
Many business owners said education was key to the industry and Craig said that was precisely why she was there.

“You guys do wonderful things,” she said.

Proos, Upton and Jelinek all commented on just how important they feel it is to bring jobs back to the state.

“Our state is at a crossroads,” Proos said in a statement. “And I believe the right policy decisions must be made for more jobs and less government. We must get Michigan back on track and our families back to work. Technology, infrastructure, safe communities, a welcoming business environment for jobs and a world class education system are all necessary to rebuilding our state.”